When hearing about Swedish brand products, certain characteristics surely come to your mind: safety, solidity, and reliability. Sporty and stylish? Errr…

Recently, Volvo worked on a vehicle to apparently appeal to an entirely new demographic – young, creative, and active consumers. The result? The new 2007 Volvo C30 hatchback – a fresh and stylish design that not only appeals to the target group of buyers, but also catches the attention of all ages.

While the exterior look of the C30 – which has obvious hints of the old P1800ES sporty hatch – is gorgeous, buyers of all ages in this segment demand solid performance, too. Powered by a solid 168-horsepower, 2.4-litre, five-cylinder engine, the C30 delivers a fairly decent performance on the fast road. Road tests demonstrated the car’s impressive handling, fine steering and braking, and good engine response.

The C30 shares its chassis with the S40 and V50. However, the C30 is 220 millimeters shorter than the S40, making it the shortest in Volvo’s lineup. This slickness helps make the C30 very agile. Also enhancing its handling is the suspension it shares with its siblings – McPherson struts up front and a multi-link rear system.

C30’s current package has been tuned for a sportier flair. The base model feels much like the S40 Sport edition, while the addition of the Sport package to the C30 takes the handling to a new level, thanks to a 20-mm drop in the ride height and stiffer, sportier tuning. The resulting ride isn’t head-bashing, just firmer — and more fun.

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A versatile, yet predictably understated estate wagon – that’s how the all-new Volvo V70 seems to be at first glance. But a closer look at the S80 look-alike shows a resilient workhorse that has been a Volvo earmark for years.

The V70 more than made up for a “saloon-ish” front by combining practical shape and attractive design on the rear. To give the V70 some sporty looks, designers equipped the wagon with split rear lights similar to the C30 hatch.

Though the present V70 does not match up with Audi A6 and BMW 5-Series’ nifty handling of turns, Volvo claims it will tweak the suspension before the production shows up in September.

The V70, however, seems to be a doubtful rival to the stiff competition in its field, according to a critic. (Photos courtesy of Auto Express) –>

If you are agitated by the intolerable sound that your car makes, maybe it is about time to seriously consider a high quality muffler for your ride. Here enters the Volvo mufflers, the right performance product suitable for your car. (Now you are suddenly enlightened, thinking to yourself, so that is why a Volvo sounds so smooth!)

Well, true to its form, the Volvo Muffler is a device which may contain a number of baffles which are designed to absorb sound, although majority of the noise reduction is not through absorption but through the destructive interference in the muffler itself. How does this performance product do things in your exhaust system? The muffler accomplishes a lot, thanks to the resonating chamber which is specifically designed so the opposite sound waves will likely collide with each other, canceling each other out. The resonator contains a specific volume of air and has a specific length that is usually calculated to produce a wave that cancels out a certain frequency of sound.

Get high quality Volvo car parts and say goodbye to unwanted unpleasant noise because Volvo Mufflers only have sweet sounds for your ride. –>